Chitral, June 26, 2026: Residents of Rumbur Valley in Lower Chitral staged a protest against a water supply project being executed by the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) to pipe water from a spring in Nok Thon village Ayun.
Local Kalash and Muslim communities opposed the project, contending that it threatened their lives and culture. They demanded that the district administration immediately halt the project.
The protesters said that people from Nok Thon to Gombek had been using the water for hundreds of years, as the spring supplied water to local homes, farms, watermills and small power generation units.
They claimed that the spring held deep religious significance for the Kalash people and that piping its water to a distant village outside the valley would have “religious repercussions”, which they would not accept.
The speakers warned that diverting water from Nok Thon could destroy the local ecosystem and adversely affect farming, power generation and the cultural life of the Kalash community.
Women speakers also expressed their resolve to protect the valley’s water resources.
When contacted, a PHED official told Dawn that the Rs390 million project was one of the district’s major drinking water supply schemes. He said the department had carried out a comprehensive feasibility study, taking into account all aspects, including its environmental impact.
He said the spring was the private property of a local resident with whom the department had entered into a formal agreement.
The official said the project was of immense importance for Ayun village, the gateway to the Kalash valleys, as the village faced an acute shortage of safe drinking water when the stream carrying water from the twin Bumburate and Rumbur valleys was in high flood during summer.
He said residents of Ayun were forced to consume highly contaminated stream water for weeks, exposing them to water-borne diseases.
“This project is meant to provide the residents with clean drinking water,” the official said.